A CLOSER LISTEN weekly #27
Sound Propositions 2022, Machinefabriek + exclusive stream, reviews and more
Dear Listeners, Every time I’ve tried to sit down and write my end of year column I’ve found myself trying to write a full review for each record on my list. And that’s basically what the following lists are; records I would have written about if I had the time (or if someone were paying me). But I’m defending my dissertation this semester, and I just don’t have the time for that, unfortunately. So without too much preamble, here are my lists of favorites from last year. Our ACL end of year lists are always culled solely from records we reviewed on the blog that year, so I won’t mention any records that already appeared on the ACL 2022 lists.
ACL 2022: Sound Propositions
FAVORITE LABEL
Backwoodz Studioz
I first got hipped to Backwoodz back in 2017, when billy woods & E L U C I D were featured on a Bandcamp daily article. I checked out Known Unknowns, woods’ collab with Blockhead (at least as evidenced by my iTunes library) but to be honest it didn’t make much of an impression at the time. I probably didn’t give it the attention it deserved. And then when my man GENG released a cassette version of Armand Hammer’s 2018 masterpiece Paraffin my ears perked up again, as the producers that Backwoodz has gathered at the label really resonated with me. Like many others, I had many people telling me to tap into Hiding Places, woods’ solo record produced entirely by Kenny Segal that saw the label getting serious mainstream attention. But again, I was preoccupied and didn’t take the time to really dig into the back catalog. But that all changed in 2020 with the release of Armand Hammer’s Shrines and billy woods & Moor Mother’s BRASS, each of which I wrote about in my 2020 end of year column. Those records feature production from Messiah Musik, August Fanon, Nicholas Craven, Kenny Segal, Navy Blue, Earl Sweatshirt, Steel Tipped Dove, Andrew Broder, Earl Sweatshirt, Willie Green, Olof Melander, Preservation, and Child Actor. That’s a murderer’s row of talent right there. 2022 saw Backwoodz release two stellar full-lengths from woods, E L U C I D leveled up in a major way on I Told Bessie, ShrapKnel gave everyone a run for their money on Metal Lung, and AKAI SOLO made his Backwoodz debut with a killer EP and LP combo late in the year. And still we’ve got every reason to believe that 2023 will be even better. In an industry that’s so often driven by vacuous pop trends and Peter Pan syndrome, it’s been amazing to watch a crew of true artists continue to get better with age.
FAVORITE PRODUCER
Child Actor
Child Actor’s beats were among my favorites on BRASS, having previously just had one placement on woods’ Terror Management (2019), and “Charms,” one of the standout tracks on Shrines (and one of the greatest videos of 2020). Child Actor is the duo of Max Heath and Natalie Plaza Carballo, and while ethereal vocals are prominent in much of their music, what really sets their production apart is the lack of loops and repeated patterns. According to an interview with the Next Movement podcast, Heath plays freehand, giving his beats a unique feel. In 2022, Child Actor’s productions could be heard on records by AKAI SOLO, SharpKnel, Serengeti, Open Mike Eagle, and, most especially, four beats on E L U C I D’s I Told Bessie.
BEATS and/or RHYMES
we don’t cover vocal music at ACL but I’m seriously thinking about starting a hip hop column
billy woods + Preservation, aethiopes
billy woods x Messiah Musik - Church
E L U C I D - I Told Bessie
AKAI SOLO - Body Feeling / Spirit Roaming
IBLSS - raja’s sun
Boldy James and Nicholas Craven - Fair Exchange No Robbery
Quelle Chris - Deathfame
Fatboi Sharif x noface - Preaching in Havana
Moor Mother - Jazz Codes
Open Mike Eagle - Tape Component System with the Autoreverse
Ka - Languish Arts / Woeful Studies
RAP Ferreira - 5 to the Eye with Stars
Black Thought & Danger Mouse - Cheat Codes
ShrapKnel - Metal Lung
Pink Siifu x Real Bad Man - Real Bad Flights
Brian Ennals & Infinity Knives - King Cobra
Serengeti (produced by Child Actor) - Ajai 2
DJ Preservation - 1974
UNDER THE RADAR
records from some of my favorite artists that might have slipped under your radar
Dakim - The Sorcerer's Way / if you can hear me
RUBBISH MUSIC - Upcycling
Cole Pulice - Scry
Koray Kantarcioğlu - Loopworks 2
Norman W. Long - Return and Recovery (line)
Chance Images - “So Inept”
Chris Williams - Live
various artists - Free Percussion/Water (tsss tapes)
Fred Moten / Brandon López / Gerald Cleaver - Moten/López/Cleaver
Giuseppe Cordaro - XIII Rumori Santi
RECORDS FROM FAVORITES
records from artists who I always check for
Giuseppe Ielasi - The Prospect
Valerio Tricoli - Say Goodbye To The Wind
Siavash Amini & Eugene Thacker - Songs for Sad Poets
Mai Mai Mai - Rimorso
Vladislav Delay - Isoviha / Ripatti Deluxe
DJ Stingray 313 - FTNWO
The Bug - Absent Riddim
Sam Prekop - Saturday Sunday
William Basinski & Janek Schaefer - “ . . . on reflection”
claire rousay - everything perfect is already here
MIX
GENG PTP - Slowness as the Vehicle - PORTISHEAD FOREVER
ARCHIVAL
Derek Bailey - Domestic Jungle / Domestic Jungle DAT
godspeed you black emperor! - all lights fucked on the hairy amp drooling
OTHER PRESS
Caltrops Press
Next Movement Podcast
Machinefabriek ~ + (Exclusive Stream!)
A Closer Listen is honored to present this exclusive stream of Machinefabriek‘s album +, two weeks in advance of release! We’ve been enjoying this album for a while now and are now overjoyed to be able to share it with our readers!
There are two ways to listen to this set below: as 52 individual tracks or as a 55-minute mix. Each has its own distinct pleasures. The album celebrates the art of creation, as Machinefabriek (Rutger Zuydervelt) invited dozens of friends to submit a minute of music for him to shape, putting the album in the company of Second Language’s classic Minute Papillon and Virgin Babylon’s sublime One Minute Older. Due to its tonal variety, + shares with those releases the element of surprise; one never knows what may be coming next. The difference is that all of the tracks are shaped by a single composer; Zuydervelt’s addition of beats and textures guides disparate sources to a single stream (pun intended). The title carries multiple interpretations, from the most obvious (Machinefabriek + guest artist) to the personal (Rutger + child), as the artist recently became a parent (congratulations!). The short tracks reflect the time constraints of parenting, as any recording must be done between feedings!
RECENT REVIEWS
Reviews are at the heart of ACL. Here are (excerpts from) a few of my favorite reviews we posted on the blog in the last few weeks.
BRUIT ≤ ~ Apologie du temps perdu Vol. 1
Apologie du temps perdu (Apology for lost time) is an unannounced release from BRUIT ≤, the follow-up to The machine is burning and now everyone knows it could happen again. On that album, BRUIT ≤ was a post-rock band with touches of modern composition; on the new EP, they become a modern composition ensemble with touches of post-rock. While the EP is best played straight through, it’s even better when played one and 1/3 times though. This is the strength of the opening track, “la sargesse de nos aieux” (“the wisdom of our ancestors”). There are no guitars or drums in this seven-minute orchestral piece; in fact, these instruments won’t reveal their splendor until halfway through the next piece, the midpoint of the EP. But the elegance of “sargesse” makes it an equally strong closer. The surge of strings in the second minute amplifies a feeling of pathos. An ancestor speaks at the very end, his final utterance laughter: an encouraging coda.
Hammock ~ Love in the Void
Touted as “Hammock‘s loudest album to date,” Love In the Void lives up to its billing with shoegaze guitars, post-rock crescendos and a plethora of drums. But make no mistake; Love in the Void is still throughly Hammock. On this album, Slow Meadow/Matt Kidd (string arrangements), Ellen Story (violin and viola), Jake Finch (drums) Lumenette/Christine Byrd (vocals) and Chad Howat (additional synths) join Marc Byrd and Andrew Thompson to score a story of struggle and potential triumph. One might call this the third phase of the modern Hammock, the duo reaching their 20th anniversary this year. After the stunning trilogy of Mysterium, Universalis, and Silencia transcribed feelings of loss into music, Elsewhere reflected the more universal loneliness of the pandemic. First the duo, then the world couldn’t seem to catch a break. Love In the Void is the sound of all the pent-up energy being released. Instead of imploding beneath the weight of so much sorrow, the music explodes into euphoria. After all they have gone through, Mark and Andrew have earned the right to rock.
moshimoss ~ Stones of Paradise
Is it spring yet? No, but the season is getting closer, and Stones of Paradise is a harbinger. On the cover, the sun is shining and children are running through a gorgeous green field, the world embracing color after too long a break. The same could be said of Kosuke Anamizu (moshlmoss), who has released a series of EPs over the past few years (culminating in an all-too-short collaboration with Levi Patel last fall), but is finally releasing his first album in nearly a decade. For those of us who remember moshlmoss, the return of these timbres is akin to a reunion. The mixture of light electronics, piano and comforting ambience is fittingly most apparent on “Remembrance,” whose parts fade in and out, revealing pillows of static. This is the moshlmoss we remember, although moshlmoss is also remembering: perhaps a loved one, perhaps happy experiences, perhaps simply who he is. The track titles “I will not forget you,” “I’ll be right here” and “Memories, ephemeral existence” contribute to this feeling of personal connection.
Tomo-Nakaguchi ~ The Long Night in Winter Light
We almost never publish a review a month before its release (this may be the first time), but we do have a good reason: The Long Night in Winter Light is a cold winter album, better suited for February chill than for March thaw. I’ve been listening in front of a fireplace while the outside temperature has dropped to a single degree Fahrenheit and the winds have increased to 50 mph. The music is just perfect for such an occasion: soft, safe, sedate. The cover image conjures thoughts of both stars and flowers, a conjunction of seasons, implying that everything will be all right.
Tujiko Noriko ~ Crépuscule I & II
I stumbled across Tujiko Noriko’s recent project, Crépuscule I & II, completely by chance. Thanks to an excited tweet from a fellow critic (usually a good sign), “Fossil Words” jumped out at me from the swirling vortex of social media, and it turned out to be one of those rare things that can stop a scroller in their tracks: a slow, winding, and beautiful exploration of hushed vocal melodies, the bare frame of a ‘song’ pushed and pulled by endlessly-varied sonic details, a masterwork of that most wonderful genre and catch-all term, ‘Ambient’. While Noriko has clearly been around the block — she’s released several albums on the prominent Austrian electronic label Mego and recently expanded her work into film — I had never heard of her before. I decided to make up for lost time.
UPCOMING RELEASES
(complete list with Bandcamp links here)
February is the month of love, but thankfully love can mean all sorts of things, from romance to friendship to volunteerism to new music. And we have already found a lot of new music to love! Even if, like Charlie Brown, we don’t find the valentine we’re looking for in our mailbox, we may find the music we like in our in-box. New music is added here daily; we hope that you’ll find your next favorite album right here!
Satoko Fujii & Otomo Yoshihide ~ Perpetual Motion (Ayler, 9 February)
Ben Rosenblum ~ A Thousand Pebbles (One Trick Dog, 10 February)
Boris Rogowski ~ The Waste Land (Piano and Coffee, 10 February)
Chris LiButti ~ Symbolic Victories (Personal Archives, 10 February)
DDENT ~ Ex Auditu (Chien Noir, 10 February)
Earth House Hold ~ How Deep Is Your Devotion (A Strangely Isolated Place, 10 February)
Field Lines Cartographer ~ This Vibrating Earth (Castles in Space, 10 February)
Giron ~ Something Strange in the Mountains (Verlag System, 10 February)
Hollie Kenniff ~ We All Have Places That We Miss (Western Vinyl, 10 February)
hubris. ~ The One Above (dunk!records, 10 February)
Linda Rum ~ Friede (Moderna, 10 February)
Luis Fernando Amaya ~ Cortahojas (Protomaterial, 10 February)
McKain/Murray/Radichel/Weeks ~ Live at Century (Personal Archives, 10 February)
Miharo Ogura ~ Ogura Plays Stockhausen (thanatosis, 10 February)
N. Hertzberg ~ Jazz Hands (Personal Archives, 10 February)
øjeRum/Scanner ~ Vågnende Jeg Ser De Døde (Room40, 10 February)
ZA! & La TransMegaCobla ~ S/T (co-released on 9 labels, 10 February)
The OO-Ray ~ Generate (Audiobulb, 11 February)
Ozan Aydn ~ A Turning Point (11 February)
Philipp Matalla ~ Stakes (Meakusma, 13 February)
Marla Hlady & Christof Migone ~ Swan Song (Cronica, 14 February)
Maze & Lindholm ~ Carillon sans timbre ni marteau – Vol1 (Totalism, 15 February)
Mirek Coutigny ~ Through Empty Landscapes and New Beginnings (Icarus/Consouling Sounds, 15 February)
Roxane Métayer ~ Perlée de sève (Marionette, 15 February)
Guy Gelem ~ Passing by and Through (Whitelabrecs, 16 February)
Astroturf Noise ~ Blazing/Freezing (577 Records, 17 February)
Bruno Duplant ~ Quelques instants d’éternité (Moving Furniture, 17 February)
Elskavon ~ Origins (Western Vinyl, 17 February)
Harry Christelis ~ Nurture the Child/Challenge the Adult (17 February)
Hior Chronik ~ Tell Me Your Story (Bigo & Twigetti, 17 February)
ILUITEQ ~ Reflections from the Road (n5MD, 17 February)
Julien Grassen Barbe ~ Loup Vert (L’Histoire Inconnue du Disque, 17 February)
Kasper Agnas ~ Grain Live (Frim, 17 February)
Machinefabriek ~ + (17 February)
Northern Lights ~ As Above (17 February)
Pita/Friedl ~ S/T (Karlrecords, 17 February)
Santa Muerte ~ Eslabón (Hyperdub, 17 February)
6SISS ~ The System (Antibody, 17 February)
Sounding Society ~ Homecoming Medley or Society Into Sound (Gotta Let It Out, 17 February)
Peter Kvidera ~ Verism (Whitelabrecs, 18 February)
Erik Hall ~ Canto Ostinato (Western Vinyl, 22 February)
Alexander Tucker + Keith Collins ~ Fifth Continent (Subtext, 24 February)
Amanda Irrarrazabal & Eli Wallace ~ Entre Pleigos (Dinzu Artefacts, 24 February)
Benny Bleu ~ March of the Mollusk (24 February)
Bondo ~ Print Selections (Quindi, 24 February)
Bono / Burattini ~ Suono in Un Tempo Trasfigurato (Maple Death, 24 February)
Camp of Wolves ~ Planetar (Subexotic, 24 February)
Cortion ~ DLF (Muzan Editions, 24 February)
Drew Gardner ~ The Return (Astral Spirits, 24 February)
Duncan Pinhas, Yerri-Gaspar Hummel ~ Voyage initiatique (Studio Labut, 24 February)
DUP SYS ~ Madoromi (Muzan Editions, 24 February)
Earth Trax ~ Closer Now (Lapsus, 24 February)
Giants of Discovery ~ And It’s Goodnight From the Human Race (Subexotic, 24 February)
Grand River ~ All Above (Editions Mego, 24 February)
Heinali ~ Kyiv Eternal (Injazero, 24 February)
Hideo Nakasako ~ Collected Sound Fragments (Muzan Editions, 24 February)
ironomi ~ himorogi (Kitchen, 24 February)
John Bence ~ Archangels (Thrill Jockey, 24 February)
Langham Research Centre and John Butcher ~ Six Hands at an Open Door (Persistence of Sound, 24 February)
Letters from Mouse ~ St. Swithin’s Day Storm (Subexotic, 24 February)
Masayoshi Miyazaki ~ China Life (Flaming Pines, 24 February)
The Mountain King / Gate to Xibalba ~ Split Album (Cursed Monk, 24 February)
The Necks ~ Travel (Northern Spy, 24 February)
Ole-Bjørn Talstad ~ Ferd (Moderna, 24 February)
plygid ~ Sensory Shell (Big Tent, 24 February)
Roxanne Nesbitt / Ben Brown / Marielle Groven ~ Play Symbiotic Instruments (Small Scale Music, 24 February)
3Phaz ~ Ends Meet (Discrepant, 24 February)
Tongue Depressor & Weston Olencki ~ Don’t Tell No Tales Upon Us (Dinzu Artefacts, 24 February)
V/A ~ A Beginner’s Guide to Sublime Frequencies Vol. 1 & 2 (High Castle Teleorkestra, 24 February)
Zekkereya El-magharbel ~ Daytimes/Nighttimes (Dinzu Artefacts, 24 February)
Megan Alice Clune ~ Furtive Glances (Room40, 25 February)
BULBUL ~ Silence! (Rock Is Hell, 28 February)
Alex Ward Item 4 Furthered ~ Furthered (577 Records, 3 March)
AMP ~ Echoesfromtheholocene (Ampbase, 3 March)
Erik Levander ~ Kvad (Supple 9, 3 March)
Frederic D. Oberland ~ Solstices (Zamzamrec, 3 March)
Garreth Broke ~ Hiding (Reworks) (piano and coffee records, 3 March)
Hoshiko Yamane ~ Reflections (Whitelabrecs/1631 Recordings, 3 March)
It Was a Good Dream ~ Rememory (3 March)
John Dierker ~ Bass Clarinet Tenor Saxophone (Sensitive Documents, 3 March)
Kate Carr ~ false dawn (Flaming Pines, 3 March)
Kate NV ~ WOW (RVNG Int., 3 March)
Mark Harris / John 3:16 ~ Procession (Alrealon Musique, 3 March)
Mathieu P ~ Conducere (Safeword, 3 March)
Nyokabi Kariuki ~ Feeling Body (cmntx, 3 March)
PoiL Ueda ~ S/T (Dur & Doux, 3 March)
Sanah Kadoura ~ Duality (3 March)
URBS ~ Geheimland (Compost, 3 March)
William Basinski ~ The Clocktower at the Beach (1979) (LINE, 3 March)
YNV ~ Western Paradox (Subject to Restrictions, 3 March)
Matt Rösner ~ Empty, Expanding, Collapsing (Room40, 4 March)
Jeugdbrand ~ Siamese Dream (Team) (Edições CN, 6 March)
Philip Samartzis ~ Atmospheres and Disturbances (Room40, 7 March)
Elsa Bergman Playon Crayon ~ Playon Crayon (Bergman Inspelningar, 9 March)
Fabian Guirard ~ La Prise Électronique (L’Histoire Inconnue Du Disque, 10 March)
Fatima Al Qadiri ~ Gumar (Hyperdub, 10 March)
Francesco Fabris & Ben Frost ~ Vakning (Room40, 10 March)
Lei Liang ~ Hearing Landscapes/Hearing Icescapes (New Focus, 10 March)
Lia Kohl ~ The Ceiling Reposes (American Dreams, 10 March)
Re:drum ~ New Folk EP (Tripalium Corp., 10 March)
Scree ~ Jasmine on a Night in July (Ruination, 10 March)
Tomo-Nakaguchi ~ The Long Night in Winter Light (Audiobulb, 11 March)
Bill Seaman & Steve Vitiello ~ The Clear Distance (Room40, 14 March)
Early Fern ~ Perpetual Care (Métron, 15 March)
Lorenz Weber ~ earth beats (15 March)
Romain Perrot & Quentin Rollet ~ Le vieux fusible (ReQords, 15 March)
Fargo ~ Geli (Kapitaen Platte, 17 March)
Gerald Cleaver, Brandon Lopez, Hprizm ~ In the Wilderness (577 Records, 17 March)
James Emrick ~ Actoma (Students of Decay, 17 March)
Niklas Paschburg ~ Panta Rhei (7K!, 17 March)
Senestra ~ Stanford (17 March)
Simeon Walker ~ Imprints 2 (17 March)
Simone Guidice ~ Alone (AFFIN, 17 March)
Luca Forcucci ~ Terra (Cronica, 21 March)
Tørrfall ~ S/T (Den Pene Inngang, 21 March)
Andy Loebs ~ Hyperlink Anamorphosis (JOLT, 24 March)
CZIGO ~ Aishroo (Machine Records, 24 March)
Elijah McLaughlin Ensemble ~ III (Astral Spirits, 24 March)
Haarvöl ~ Seeking the intimacy of silence (Moving Furniture, 24 March)
Last Days ~ Windscale (n5MD, 24 March)
Les Dunes ~ S/T (Kapitaen Platte, 24 March)
Material + Object ~ Telepath (Editions Mego, 24 March)
Mats Gustafsson & Joachim Nordwall ~ Their Power Reached Across Space and Time – To Defy Them Was Death – Or Worse (Thrill Jockey, 24 March)
Neal Cowley ~ Battery Life (Mote, 24 March)
Richard Orton ~ Hemlock Stone (Persistence of Sound, 24 March)
Robert Honstein ~ Lost and Found (New Focus, 24 March)
YoshimiOizumikiYoshiduO – To The Forest To Live A Truer Life (Thrill Jockey, 24 March)
Bendu ~ Portaling (Werra Foxma, 25 March)
A Journey of Giraffes ~ Empress Nouveau (Somewherecold, 31 March)
Arrowounds ~ In the Octopus Pond (Lost Tribe Sound, 31 March)
Höhn ~ S/T (STNS, 31 March)
Masahiro Takahashi ~ Humid Sun (telephone explosion, 31 March)
Phil Minton, Pat Thomas, Dave Tucker, Roger Turner ~ Scatter: On a Clear Day Like This (577 Records, 31 March)
Piotr Kurek ~ Peach Blossom (Mondoj, 31 March)
Richard Skelton ~ selenodesy (Phantom Limb, 31 March)
Rob Mazurek – Exploding Star Orchestra ~ Lightning Dreamers (International Anthem, 31 March)
Survey Channel ~ Canvas Doubles (Werra Foxma, 31 March)
Fire-Toolz ~ I am upset because I see something that is not there. (Hausu Mountain, 7 April)
Issei Herr ~ Distant Intervals (NNA Tapes, 7 April)
Niko-Matti Ahti ~ Kaivajaiset (Students of Decay, 7 April)
Sleep Research Facility/Llyn Y Cwn ~ Cargo/Posidonia (Cold Spring, 7 April)
Macgray ~ Collapse (Les Yeux Orange, 13 April)
Martyn Heyne ~ Eight Reflections in Darkness (Tonal Institute / AWAL Sony, 14 April)
Penelope Trappes ~ Heavenly Spheres (Nite Hive, 14 April)
V/A ~ Utopia or Oblivion (Constructive, 14 April)
KVL ~ Volume 2 (Astral Spirits, 21 April)
Lucaslavia ~ Furnace (Macro, 21 April)
Oval ~ Romantiq (Thrill Jockey, 12 May)